


Dead Dogs Don't Lie

by RunningRace



Category: Red Dead Redemption (Video Games)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Don't read if you haven't beat chapter 6, Implied/Referenced Character Death, It pretty much just follows the canon story, John's daily journals, My horse died and I'm not okay, POV John Marston, Self-Reflection, Spoilers, no relationships - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-31
Updated: 2019-01-31
Packaged: 2019-10-19 18:43:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,181
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17606852
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RunningRace/pseuds/RunningRace
Summary: John Marston was never one for writing and reflecting - unlike Arthur, who wrote and sketched any time he had a second to himself. Since his passing, Marston has found himself often recalling the events that led up to the night when him and Arthur finally departed from the gang. He finally takes a moment to stop, think, and even journal his thoughts about well, everything. Just like Arthur would've.





	Dead Dogs Don't Lie

**Author's Note:**

> hi! this is my first story of any kind that I've actually finished/have felt is worthy to post so I hope you enjoy it! I wrote this after I beat Chapter 6 of Red Dead Redemption 2 and this was before I started playing any of the epilogue (so I didn't know anything about John and whether or not this would be similar to his real reaction until after I finished this) I just kind of opened up a blank document and poured out my feelings from the perspective of what I felt like a character of rdr2 would be like and it ended up morphing into a John Marston POV of his feelings about what happens after the gang falls apart at Beaver Hollow. Also!! There are certain names mentioned in this story - Gunsmoke, Cougar, Hawk, and Blacksmith. Those were the names of my horses in my play-through of the game, just to clear up any confusion if there is any. That's all I'm going to really say because I don't want to drag this little intro on for too long. Go ahead and get to reading, outlaws! c:

Well. Arthur is dead. So is Gunsmoke. Cougar, Blacksmith, Hawk.. damn it all. Don't know what happened to them. Good horses. Maybe Charles picked them up. Or maybe that bastard Dutch got em. I don't know. They're gone. Gone like him. Gone with Gunsmoke. 

It was a shit hole - the whole thing. It was all a goddamn setup. The whole time. Fucking Micah. The rat. Convinced Dutch that Arthur and I were nothing but an old pair of mutts - worn out and used well past our due date. He got all up in Dutch's head and screwed up everything - every single goddamn thing. Hosea, Lenny, Sean, Mac, Davey, poor young Jenny, hell - even Molly and Miss Grimshaw. That's what happens when you let a sick rat run lose in your home. People get sick. People die. 

Don't know what happened to Javier. Bill. Pearson, Uncle, and a couple of the girls dipped out before everything went to hell that day. Tilly, Sadie, Abigail and John. They got out. They stayed safe. Thanks to Arthur of course. I was stumbling through the woods like a prize idiot - had been up and left by Dutch when we robbed the train. Got hit in the shoulder with a bullet - knocked me clean off the rampaging bastard we were fittin to rob. Just my luck, huh? Arthur always said I was dumb but lucky. 

Damn. Just damn it all! If only Dutch hadn't been so stupid then none of this would've happened. Arthur or I shoulda killed that Micah Bell long ago. He was well past his time. 

Arthur came down with a nasty cough our last few weeks together - sickness is a nasty beast. Silent, relentless, and just down right evil. I'd never seen the bastard so rough before - except maybe the time he came strolling into camp - half dead on Gunsmoke after Colm got his hands on 'em. He was half as lucky as I am to have escaped from that bastard anyways - let alone make a recovery afterwards. Colm ended up swinging a few weeks after, Arthur, Dutch, and Sadie saw to that - or so I heard. Although Colm was just as much of a rat as Micah was and is - there was still something in hearing the old bastard finally paying his dues that just got me thinking. Damn - I sound like Arthur now. Hell, I'm even journalling like the bastard used to do. That's the only other thing he'd do when he wasn't robbing, stealing, and killing blindly for Dutch. Always had his eyes glued to down to the paper with some far off, melancholy look in his eyes as he wrote down his thoughts. Arthur did have beautiful handwriting - unlike me - his was scrolled and cursive while mine is just a bunch of rough chickenscratch. He was always the one more interested in the whole reading and writing idea than I was when Hosea and Dutch were trying to civilize young boys. 

It's still hard to get my head around that he's gone. It's only been a little while since everything went down - been lying low with the girls until it's safe for us to move without worrying about getting spotted by Pinkertons. Things are even more hectic - Detective Ross and his shit brigade have been hounding through towns ever since ol' Milton got his head blasted by Abigail. She told me she saved Arthur, suppose it was one way of helping repay him for everything he did for us. Didn't always see eye to eye - I know he was sore for a long time when I'd up and left for a while after Abigail had the boy. Took us a while to get back on even grounds with each other, but we did. Me and him? We were brothers. 

Can't even for sure say he's dead - never saw the old dog go down really. But I know. I just do. Poor Gunsmoke too. Lost Old Boy and her when him and I were getting away from the Pinkertons back at Bunker Hills. Arthur loved that horse probably more than the whole lot of us combined - he was always sweet on that mare since day 1. She'd follow him to the ends of the earth if she had to - and she did. Although in the midst of it all, when it all went down and we lost the horses - all I could think about was saving our hides from all the gunfire coming our way, but Arthur - no, that man had to stop and thank her. It was bittersweet, thinking back on it now. I was yelling at him to hurry his ass up while he was kneeled down - eye to eye with her. Whispering something sweet in her ear as she went - just as he did when he was on her back. A real shame, those horses carried us through hell and back more than once. Didn't deserve it like that. 

I think Arthur knew too. Knew it was his time. Damn fool kept collapsing in the days before - couldn't keep his breath even when he wasn't talking. Not that he deserved to go down like that - No, not at all - but it seems fitting, in some odd way. Arthur was born fightin' and he died the same. Me and him? No, we ain't good men. It's a real shame only one of us get to keep trying to be. Arthur, that man was a fool, but at heart - he might've been the best of all of us. It took us a long time to figure things out - specially cuz we were being damn blind idiots trailing at Dutch's heels, but in the end Arthur knew it was time. Time to quit living loyal and start living good. Dutch was always bashing him for worrying too much but look where everything ended up. Dutch is probably hiding out in some other shit hole cave - cowering away from the law as he always has and rambling about how he's gonna get to Tahiti as soon as he comes up with a plan. The world ain't want men like that no more. Unfortunately, we just had to find that out the hard way. 

I'm sure if Arthur hadn't picked up that cough he'd still be here. He'd probably be here right now - sitting on this rock out in the woods instead of me, scribbling away in his little journal about anything and everything that was going on in that head of his. He always looked full of anger and sadness and I'm sure he had plenty of both - but I know deep down that my brother was a man with a good heart just torn between loyalty, love, and doing good for his people. I just hope I can be half as good as he was in the end. Without him, I wouldn't be here with Abigail and my boy. Fighting for our second chance in the world. I'm sure with Arthur's influence and his 'do-good' attitude in mind - we'll be just fine in the long run. 

RIP A.M.


End file.
